Anyone familiar with replacing PSU capacitors?

Intrepidation · Apr 8, 2016

My current machine has been powered by a Silverstone ST60F 600W PSU since I build it in 2006 and besides the case was the last original component (although not technically true since I did have to RMA it about a year into ownership)

In January the computer shut down unexpectedly and wouldn't immediately turn back on. A moment or two later it came back on it was fine. Suspecting the PSU, I swapped it out for a Cooler Master RS-500-PCAS I had acquired not a week early are pat of a hardware bundle I bought off a friend. Been trouble free since.

Thing is, I hate throwing things away that can be repaired, so I'd like to try to fix it. After all, its a 600W modular unit that up until now and besides a fan replacement, has been trouble free for 8 years.

Here's the unit.

I cracked it open the other day and looked around inside.

Everything looks ok but for one capacitor that had bulged.

I've replaced capacitors before on my old Hanns G LCD monitor, however there was a model specific cap kit for it, so I didn't have to hunt down caps. No such luck here.

Reading the bad capacitor, Its a Teapo 2200uf 6.3V cap rated at SC105°C. It also says 06/06 and A3. I'm not especially good with reading caps, like why its "SC" or what the 06/06 or A3 (model?) stands for

Plugging in the info I for a Panasonic that seemed to match.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic/EEU-FR0J222/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22f2plZjWOZXT8YqVotsLM6Y%3d

Just not sure if that would be a correct replacement,

Plugged the PSU in and used that nifty functionality tester the EVGA G2 game with and it fired right up, so ts not dead yet!

Dieselbird · Apr 8, 2016

Most of the time it's a good idea to replace all of the electrolytic capacitors. If one has failed, the rest probably aren't far behind. It could be a total coincidence but that 06/06 could be a date code if you say you got it around 2006.

I suppose it's totally possible that the capacitor is the problem. Sometimes replacing them magically fixes the unit, sometimes it doesn't. I've done it on a lot of different pieces of equipment over the years.

Give it a shot, the only things that matter about capacitors in this case are the voltage, capacitance, and ESR. A panasonic cap is most likely better ESR than the junk that OEMs use so I wouldn't be worried to use it.

Intrepidation · Apr 8, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dieselbird

Most of the time it's a good idea to replace all of the electrolytic capacitors. If one has failed, the rest probably aren't far behind. It could be a total coincidence but that 06/06 could be a date code if you say you got it around 2006.

I suppose it's totally possible that the capacitor is the problem. Sometimes replacing them magically fixes the unit, sometimes it doesn't. I've done it on a lot of different pieces of equipment over the years.

Give it a shot, the only things that matter about capacitors in this case are the voltage, capacitance, and ESR. A panasonic cap is most likely better ESR than the junk that OEMs use so I wouldn't be worried to use it.

The date makes perfect sense, I should have realized that!

I'll probably get that Panasonic then and see what happens.

Our of curiosity, I see all kinds of different info regarding capacitors and how long before they naturally discharge. Any thoughts on that? It had been off for about two months until today when I powered it up. Its since been unplugged with the tester plugged into the ATX cable and the power switch set to on. I've read minutes, hours, a day, and so on. I'll use a resistor to make sure they are discharged, just to be safe though.

Dieselbird · Apr 8, 2016

It all depends on how they are arranged in the circuit, and how "good" they are as far as current leakage that's just inside them. The only ones you need to worry about are the high voltage capacitors on the input rectifier part of the circuit. They are probably 200-300 volt caps that will "light you up" pretty good. I wouldn't bother discharging anything below 25v, especially if it's been a few minutes. They can't shock you and at only a couple thousand uF that's nothin'

If it makes you feel better, go for it though. Can't hurt. Make sure to discharge any capacitor of significant size through a resistor, you can do the math and see they will make a pretty big pop if you just stick a test lead across them.

raclimja · Apr 8, 2016

I wouldn't bother repairing that power supply.

You never know if the other components inside has failed or is about to fail.

It can be very costly as it can potentially kill your whole system (CPU, MOBO, RAM, GPU, HDD, etc..)

Just a reminder what could happen if it did fail.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=68

Intrepidation · Apr 8, 2016

Cool, thanks for the advice!

Dieselbird · Apr 9, 2016

I'll put it this way, don't let other people's failures keep you from learning and potentially getting something useful back.

However, I don't know if I'd plug it in to anything irreplaceable after the repair.

I have no idea how reputable of a PSU that was to begin with, I only buy corsair PSUs (I own like 20 of them and I used an hx1050 to start a car once so I'm pretty sold on them)
If it was a super solid unit that didn't look like a half a$$ed design, I would put it back into service after some testing. If it looks crappy or cheap inside I'd be a little more weary.

Even if you don't feel comfortable using it in a computer you can power all kinds of other junk with it rather than throwing it away too.

Intrepidation · Apr 9, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dieselbird

I'll put it this way, don't let other people's failures keep you from learning and potentially getting something useful back.

However, I don't know if I'd plug it in to anything irreplaceable after the repair.

I have no idea how reputable of a PSU that was to begin with, I only buy corsair PSUs (I own like 20 of them and I used an hx1050 to start a car once so I'm pretty sold on them)
If it was a super solid unit that didn't look like a half a$$ed design, I would put it back into service after some testing. If it looks crappy or cheap inside I'd be a little more weary.

Even if you don't feel comfortable using it in a computer you can power all kinds of other junk with it rather than throwing it away too.

It won't be powering my new machine, that job has been handed off to my new EVGA 750 G2.

If I get it in good working order I might put it back in my current machine. Having the modular cables makes it much easier to work with, the case has no cable management as it is so having a non modular unit in there is difficult to clean up. This machine won't see daily use once the new one is complete anyway. Or I might just keep it as a spare. Never hurts to have a spare PSU!

So from what I gathered, the OEM for this PSU was Enhance Electronics. There's a review for the 750W version, which has a very similar layout and that did well. It's powered my PC for about 8 years, so up until now its been reliable for me.

Dieselbird · Apr 9, 2016

Give it a try, just let it run for a bit not connected to anything expensive (jumper method to turn on) and make sure it's stable. Wouldn't hurt to test something on it, fans or something for a while before trusting it again. If it's fine odds are it won't suddenly decide to go nuts.

Anyone familiar with replacing PSU capacitors?

Intrepidation

Dieselbird

Intrepidation

Dieselbird

raclimja

Intrepidation

Dieselbird

Intrepidation

Dieselbird

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